January 20, 2013 - The California Golden Bears Highpower Shooting club held the first match of the year at private Fort Angeles Range (just west of the main Angeles Ranges area). This was a “cross the course” (XTC) match shot at 100 yards on reduced size targets to simulate 200, 300, and 600 yards. Competitors had the option of shooting 50 or 80 round matches and either match or service (M1 Garand, M1A, or AR15) rifles. High match shooter was Robert C. with a 768/800 and high service rifle shooters were Blake A. with a 756/800.

In addition to the regular matches on the third Sunday of the month, there are special practice matches on the fourth Sunday of the month. The cost for these will be $15, and the next one will be on January 27, 2012. Sign-ups start at 0730 with the match usually starting at 0815. The match normally ends by 1030 and the range is then used for additional practice till noon. Shooters can then use the public range after the match if desired.

Check out the website www.goldenbears.org to find out more. If you want to get on our mailing list, please send an email to secretary at goldenbears.org

Yes, bolt actions are used at these matches. Typically, the bolt actions that are used are the vintage military rifles (03A3 and Springfields) as there are special Vintage Military Rifle matches. We also occasionally have Mosin Nagants on the line as well.

Your rifle would be considered a "match rifle" (as opposed to a service rifle). A challenge with a bolt rifle is the "rapid" portion of the matches. The use of magazines on a bolt rifle will help get you through the rapid portions of the match more quickly, but I've seen guys use stripper clips with remarkable speed.

I've also seen bolt action tube guns at our matches. Check out www.gotxring.com to find out more about these. A tube gun starts with a chassis into which you then put your barreled action. These are more common at matches where the full distances are shot. You'll also see many shooters using them at mid-range matches which are typically 600 yard matches.

Hope to see you at one of our matches and feel free to come out and check it out and learn more. Check out the website at www.goldenbears.org